Gemma 4 vs GitHub Copilot
Plans, free access, limits and intended use side by side, taken from each vendor’s own pages. No score and no winner: the facts show where the two differ.
Change tools
Open weights you run and license yourself
Coding assistance inside your editor, with a separate cloud agent for GitHub repositories.
- Free access
- Gemma 4: Free access
- GitHub Copilot: Free access
- Paid from
- Gemma 4: No fixed price listed
- GitHub Copilot: USD 10 per person per month
- Plans listed
- Gemma 4: 1
- GitHub Copilot: 4
- Public API
- Gemma 4: Yes
- GitHub Copilot: Yes
Where Gemma 4 and GitHub Copilot differ
- Open sourceOnly Gemma 4 is open source.
- PlansGemma 4 lists 1 plans and GitHub Copilot lists 4.
Head to head
Each value from the tool’s profile and the vendor’s own pages
| Gemma 4 | Fact | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Access and price | ||
| Free access availableOpen weights (Apache 2.0) · 0 | Free accessSame | Free access availableFree · USD 0 |
| No fixed price listed | Lowest listed paid plan | USD 10 per person per monthPro · monthly subscription |
| Free open weights (Apache 2.0); you supply the hardware | Pricing model | Free access; individual Pro USD 10 per month |
| 1 | Plans listedDiffers | 4 |
| Yes | Public APISame | Yes |
| Not confirmed | Card to start | Not required |
| Yes | Open sourceDiffers | No |
| What it is for | ||
| Running an open model locally for code and text work | Built for | Reviewing small code changes in an existing editor |
| Coding | CategorySame | Coding |
| Platforms |
|
| Works with |
|
| How current | ||
| Profile sources checked | ||
| Prices confirmed · Sep 29, 2026 | Pricing checkSame | Prices confirmed · Oct 2, 2026 |
Official source check for both tools. No hands-on testing and no score: “Differs” marks a documented difference, not a better tool.
Plans and prices
GitHub Copilot
Prices confirmed · Oct 2, 2026- FreeUSD 0
- ProUSD 10 per person per monthmonthly subscription
- Pro+USD 39 per person per monthmonthly subscription
- MaxUSD 100 per person per monthmonthly subscription
Strengths and limits
Gemma 4
Strengths
- Permissive license: Apache 2.0 allows commercial use, modification and redistribution without a separate Gemma agreement.
- Runs offline: Downloaded weights work without an account or network connection once installed.
- Published memory table: Google lists approximate memory for every size at 16-bit, 8-bit and 4-bit precision.
Limits to plan around
- Hardware is your cost: The 31B model needs 17.5 GB even at 4-bit, before context memory.
- No paid hosted tier on the Gemini API: The pricing page lists only a free tier, and free-tier content is used to improve Google products.
- Older training data: The pre-training data has a January 2025 cutoff, so later events need to be supplied in the prompt.
GitHub Copilot
Strengths
- Keep the current editor: Supported IDE integrations let a developer evaluate assistance without replacing the entire coding environment.
- Separate local and delegated work: Chat, local agent mode and the cloud agent address different levels of repository work.
- Visible billing units: The individual billing documentation explains credit conversion, base allowance and variable flex allotment.
Limits to plan around
- Free is not unlimited agent work: Free has limited chat and agent usage; cloud agent and code review require paid access.
- Variable interaction cost: Long context, model choice and repeated edits change credit consumption.
- Exclusion gaps: Content exclusion is not supported in Edit or Agent modes; do not treat a file policy as a universal boundary.
See both products
Start from your task, not from a winner.
Run both tools on the same real task, then compare the result, how much editing it needs and how fast it uses your plan’s allowance.
How we reviewChange this pair
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Writing & content
Comparing tools from different categories is fine, and often useful — a writing assistant and a research tool solve different halves of the same job. The table will show you exactly where they diverge.
Questions about comparing tools
How does the comparison work?
Add two tools to the comparison tray from any tool card, then open this page. The table pulls each tool's verified plan details, platforms, strengths and limits from its profile, so both columns carry the same kind of evidence, with a separate source-check date for each tool.
Do you declare a winner?
No. The table sets two tools against each other on documented facts, not on a score. Which one wins depends on your task, your budget and your usage volume — three things we cannot see from here.
Why are some cells empty or marked unverified?
Because we could not confirm that detail on the vendor's own pages. Rather than filling the gap with a figure from elsewhere, we mark it and say why on the tool's profile.
Can I compare more than two tools?
Not at once. Two columns keep the differences readable and force a real decision. Remove either selected tool to replace it, or clear both to start a new pair.
Every figure in the table above comes from the linked profile, where the source and the verification date are listed. Browse all tools or read the editorial policy.